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Making Sense of Science through Visualization

Join us on April 20th, from 11am-12pm, when Professor Roy Tasker, 2011 Australian University Teacher of the Year, presents a seminar on "Making Sense of Science through Visualization".

A deep understanding of chemistry requires the ability to imagine the invisible molecular world to explain the observable world. Only then do abstract chemical formulas and equations become meaningful communication, and fundamental concepts become 'internalised'. Indeed, all sciences require seamless movement between observable, imagined and symbolic thinking levels.

In this seminar, Roy will discuss how thinking at these levels can be facilitated through learning designs - sequences of learning activities with specific learning outcomes. He will show how a simple, but powerful, evidence-based model for how we learn can be used to inform learning designs. Examples will focus on the use of molecular-level visualisation using animations and simulations in chemistry, although the guiding principles apply to visualisations in any discipline.

After graduating from the University of Queensland in 1978 Professor Tasker obtained his PhD in synthetic inorganic chemistry at the University of Otago in 1982. Following teaching positions at Brisbane Grammar School, the University of Tasmania, and the University of Adelaide, he was appointed as a Foundation Lecturer at the University of Western Sydney in 1985. He is now Professor of Chemical Education with primary teaching responsibilities at first-year level, and research interests in the use of molecular-level visualisation and interactive multimedia for learning chemistry. In 2011, he received the highest ALTC accolade; The Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year.

Date: Friday 20 April 2012

Time: 11.00am - 12.00pm

Location: School of Chemistry, Lecture Theatre 4, University of Sydney